Brewing good coffee is an art and the key to success lies in finding the optimum balance between the strength of the brewed coffee and the degree of extraction from the ground coffee. The coffee brewing process proceeds in three stages namely, wetting, extraction and hydrolysis. During the wetting stage, as the coffee bean fiber absorbs hot water, gas is driven from the coffee particles and interstitial voids inside the coffee particles preparing the coffee particles for extraction of solubles. In the extraction stage, water-soluble flavoring compounds dissolve and rapidly move out of the coffee bean fibers and enter the water. In the hydrolysis stage, large molecules of water-insoluble carbohydrates break down into smaller molecules that are water soluble. As should be appreciated, the design and operation of coffee-brewing equipment affects the three stages in the brewing process and therefore, has a direct influence on the quality of brewed coffee.
In conventional coffee-making machines, hot water is drawn from a reservoir and is discharged into a brew basket via a sprayhead. The brew basket holds a filter and a bed of ground coffee within the filter. Hot water discharged into the brew basket, percolates through the bed of ground coffee and exits the brew basket as coffee. The hot coffee exiting the brew basket is collected by a server.
To achieve uniform wetting and extraction, the hot water contacting the bed of ground coffee must lift and separate the coffee grounds, a mixing action referred to as turbulence. Improperly applying water to the bed of ground coffee can contribute to poor brewed coffee. Conventional sprayheads tend to concentrate turbulence in the center of the brew basket. Since the bed of ground coffee is wetted down with more pressure at some areas than other areas, the brewed coffee is inconsistent and over-extracted.
To date, the design of brew baskets to hold ground coffee and coffee making machine sprayheads have not achieved the desired results. Accordingly, improved coffee-making equipment to produce a better quality brew is desired.
It is therefore and object of the invention to provide a novel brew basket for a coffee-making machine and a novel coffee-making machine sprayhead.